One day….
Five days….
Ten days….
Two weeks passed in a flash.
Work is proceeding smoothly Guang Ming Subdistrict Office under Dong Xuebing’s leadership, and it’s getting boring for him. He has nothing important to do after getting the Role Model Unit Award. His job now is to attend meetings and sign off reports. After doing these mundane tasks, he will laze in his office until he finishes work. Even after he finishes work, he has nothing to do at home. District Party Secretary Wang is still hospitalized, and Geng Yuehua is covering him now. The District Party Committee and District Government have lots of work. She did not return to the Subdistrict Office Family Quarters after leaving that day. He did not want to disturb her by calling or messaging her.
This afternoon.
Work Party Secretary Office.
Dong Xuebing returned to his office after lunch. He lit a cigarette and started playing online card games on his PC.
Ring… ring… ring….
Dong Xuebing looked at the number and laughed. It’s Yu Meixia.
“Hello, Sister Yu.”
“Xiao Bing…. It’s me. Are you… are you busy?” Yu Meixia speaks softly.
Dong Xuebing looked at his monitor and laughed. “That’s right. I am busy playing games.”
Yu Meixia heard he is busy and panics. “Then…. I will not bother you anymore. I…. don’t have anything important.”
“Huh?” Dong Xuebing rolled his eyes. “Can’t you tell I was joking with you? How can I play games if I am busy?”
Yu Meixia asked cautiously. “Are you free now?”
“Yes. What is it?” Sister Yu is naïve and believes everything he says. He does not dare to joke around with her as she will take him seriously.
Yu Meixia’s voice becomes softer. “I am fine… but Qianqian misses you.”
Dong Xuebing is amused. “What about you? Do you miss me?”
Dong Xuebing can imagine Yu Meixia’s blushing face when she replied. “Yes….”
“Yes? Yes, what?”
“Qianqian is beside me.”
“How is Qianqian doing? I have not seen her for two months.” Dong Xuebing is in a good mood. “Are you calling to ask about Qianqian’s high school admission to a school in the city? Don’t worry. I had made the arrangements. My mother had talked to the school. It’s a top high school in the city, and Qianqian just needs to report there when school starts. Oh, I still have not made arrangements for your Neighborhood Committee job as I can’t decide which neighborhood to send you to. I will decide after you are here.”
Sister Yu replied. “Ok. I will listen to you.”
“Haha…. You will listen to whatever I say?”
“Yes.” Yu Meixia gave a firm reply.
Dong Xuebing is touched. “You are the best.”
“No….”
“Stop being modest.”
Sister Yu is the best. She is submissive to Dong Xuebing and will do whatever he says. Geng Yuehua is the opposite of her with her cold attitude. Sigh….
Dong Xuebing laughed and suddenly remembered something. “Have you considered about that matter?”
“Which matter?”
“About your birth parents.”
Yu Meixia stutters after a long pause. “I…. I…. I still….”
Dong Xuebing said. “Why are you still hesitating? We had conducted the paternity test, and there’s no mistake. Uncle Liu and Aunt Qian are old, and it might be too late if you drag this out. You should know what I mean. I understand that you are nervous, but this matter must be settled. Moreover, this is a family reunion, and it’s something to celebrate. What’s there to consider for so long? Anyway, this is up to you. My suggestion is to discuss with Qianqian first to let her be mentally prepared. After all, she is Uncle Liu and Aunt Qian’s granddaughter. She has the right to know about this.”
“Alright. I will speak to Qianqian.”
“Ok. Give me a call if you decide to meet them. I will make the arrangements.”
After hanging up, Dong Xuebing continues to play ‘Doudizhu’ on his PC.
After losing four consecutive games, Dong Xuebing got frustrated and stopped playing.
Dong Xuebing…. Can you be serious at work? You are a Subdistrict Office Director. How can you play games during office hours?
Dong Xuebing felt he must find something to do. If he doesn’t have any work to do, he will continue to try out his power. He wants to know if there are any other undiscovered commands other than BACK, STOP, REVERSE. He remembers he had recited the words in a dictionary starting from Z to A. But he discovers REVERSE during the second time he read out the words in the dictionary. This means he did not notice REVERSE on his first time. REVERSE might have been activated, but he did not notice it. He knows he will overlook any new commands even if he read all the words in the dictionary again.
What should he do to discover new commands?
Concentrating while reading the dictionary?!
Dong Xuebing got goosebumps when he thought about this. He doesn’t believe anyone can read a dictionary with full concentration and not get distracted. It’s boring. It might be possible to read a few pages a day, but it will take a few months to finish reading the dictionary. He is not free to do that.
Dong Xuebing decided to use his previous method. He will pick a few words that might be possible.
Dong Xuebing thought for a while and decided to try his luck and pick words related to time.
STOP is to stop time, and BACK is to reverse time.
START? This word is the opposite of stop. Nothing happens.
BEGIN? Nothing happens.
GO? This word is the opposite of STOP. It doesn’t work too.
Dong Xuebing’s English had improved after he tried to find new commands. His English is much better than when he was in university, and he doesn’t need to check the dictionary.
An hour passed.
Dong Xuebing tried more than a hundred words to no avail.
Dong Xuebing had finished half a pack of cigarettes while trying the words. He is troubled. Are there new commands? What if there are no new commands? Suddenly, his eyes fell on the air conditioner remote control. He remembers the DVD player remote control has an FF button. It stands for fast forward.
This word is related to time, and it’s the opposite for REVERSE.
Dong Xuebing focused on the cigarette he just lit and mumbled FORWARD.
Immediately, the cigarette becomes an ignition fuse for a bomb. It burns off in a flash and scalds Dong Xuebing’s fingers.
Arghh….
Dong Xuebing flicked the cigarette away in pain and mumbled FORWARD to deactivate it.
Dong Xuebing was shocked. The cigarette should burn for around ten minutes if it were left there, and it can’t be burned off in a blink of an eye. He can confirm FORWARD is a command, and he brings out MENU to check his remaining time. His time was shortened by one second. This command is the opposite of REVERSE and can only work on a specific object.
Dong Xuebing must continue to experiment with it. He looked around and held the clock with the calendar in his hands. He focused on the clock and said the command.
FORWARD
The second hand of the clock speeds up until it becomes blurred. The minute hand is also moving fast, and the hour hand moves much slower.
Dong Xuebing is surprised to see the clock’s hour hand is not moving as fast as he imagined. But he did not stop and continued to focus on the clock.
Ten seconds….
Thirty seconds….
One minute.
FORWARD deactivate.
Dong Xuebing exhaled and looked at the date. A minute of FORWARD is equivalent to 24 hours on the clock. Compared to REVERSE’s one second is one day, it is not as efficient. The difference is sixty times.
Why is this so?
Both commands used the same amount of time, but the results differed.
Could the past have happened, and the energy required is less? The future has too many uncertainties and requires more energy to move forward.
Could there be other unknown reasons?
Dong Xuebing doesn’t understand how his power works, but he is still glad to discover a new command.
